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On Dec. 3, 1860, President James Buchanan delivered his State of the Union address justifying the fugitive slave laws, denying the right of the territory of Kansas to abolish slavery, and blaming Northern abolitionist agitators for inciting slave...

Before entering the Mos Eisley spaceport seeking an interplanetary Uber to Alderaan, Obi-Wan Kenobi cautioned Luke Skywalker, “You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.” Evidently, Mr. Kenobi had never been to Washington, D.C., and certainly not during a Trump administration. Donald Trump is a con man. Always has been and always will be. He is also a hollow man honeycombed with self-doubt, horror-struck at the thought of self-awareness, and using remorseless mockery of others as a psychological contrivance counterbalancing his moral and ethical impotence.

On Friday, Dec. 20, about 5:30 p.m., I was driving home east on Route 9 from South East Street in Amherst. It was terrifying. My good snow tires had zero traction on the icy surface. Vehicles were going 10 mph yet still skidding.At one point I saw a...

By EMILEE KLEIN

BELCHERTOWN — The Board of Health has approved regulations prohibiting the sale of nicotine products within the town’s limits to anyone born after Jan. 1, 2004, making Belchertown the first municipality in western Massachusetts and the 11th in the...

By CAROLYN BROWN

Decades ago, it was common for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities to be kept in inhumane conditions inside horrific institutions. With the release of his new book, “Becoming Darlene: The Story of Belchertown Patient #4952,”...

By MELISSA KAREN SANCES

“And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.” — Friedrich NietzscheI have never liked ghost stories. But when I heard about Half-Hanged Mary of Hadley, I was spellbound. Not that long ago, right around here, a woman, thought...

By EMILEE KLEIN

BELCHERTOWN — A Belchertown restaurant is facing charges for allegedly serving 22 shots of liquor to three underage employees over a six-hour period in early August, one of whom got into a car crash while driving under the influence in Ludlow a short...

By EMILEE KLEIN

BELCHERTOWN — Police Chief Kevin Pacunas is appealing an Eastern Hampshire District Court judge’s ruling that reversed his decision to deny a resident’s application for a gun license.In his appeal to Hampshire Superior Court, filed Sept. 23, Pacunas...

By JACOB NELSON

When Heather McCann founded her Belchertown farm, Rustic Outlook, in 2020, she picked a niche that few local farmers have chosen. She decided to make beans her thing.Dry beans, specifically. They’re a pantry staple that lasts for years and a delicious...

Turning trash containers into art BELCHERTOWN — If making visual art (rather than just appreciating it at gallery shows) is your thing, this call for artists may be for you. Artists are invited to submit proposals for designs to decorate three...

By EMILEE KLEIN

BELCHERTOWN — Brewed with tenacity, poured with purpose.The two slogans of Arcpoint Brewing Company, Belchertown’s first brewery, located at 30 Front St., stand out in bright red letters against the blue grey walls painted the same color as the skins...

By EMILEE KLEIN

The only structure that appeared still intact from the first superintendent’s home at the Belchertown State School was a century-old stone wall outlining a small grassy plot at 47 State St.At least that’s what residents believed until three years ago,...

“Into the Valley of Death rode the six hundred.” So wrote Alfred Lord Tennyson in commemorating the heroic yet suicidal mission undertaken by the British Light Brigade in the 1854 Battle of Balaclava. Fast forward to the Pioneer Valley’s contemporary...

By EMILEE KLEIN

BELCHERTOWN — Saying that Police Chief Kevin Pacunas’ decision to deny a firearms license to a resident earlier this year was “overly broad, vague and therefore arbitrary and capricious,” a judge last month ordered the town to grant the license.In...

By EMILEE KLEIN

BELCHERTOWN — Before police officers began their patrols on July 19, each officer clipped on one of the 23 fully charged body cameras sitting on a docking station, officially launching the department’s body-worn camera program that aims to improve...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A recent visit to Brookfield Farm gave Bronx, New York teens Emily Robinson and Royale Cash Panchoo an opportunity to see baby pigs, pick blueberries and make flower bouquets, one of their several excursions around town and the region while...

By EMILEE KLEIN

BELCHERTOWN — A new town website is designed to offer improved usability for site visitors and municipal employees, easier navigation and timely notifications for news and events.The revamped website presents the most-used resources for residents on...

Staff Report

BELCHERTOWN — Four people arrested during the breakup of a pro-Palestinian encampment on the University of Massachusetts campus in May agreed to dispositions Monday in Eastern Hampshire District Court in which they will enter a four-month diversion...

By EMILEE KLEIN

Morey Phippen and Brian Adams’ yard in Florence looks nothing like the traditional blanket of green grass associated with suburban lawns.Instead, bumblebees and butterflies bob and weave around her destined for the nearby foxglove, pink primrose, red...

By EMILEE KLEIN

BELCHERTOWN — Residents shot down the proposed $122.6 million middle school building at Monday’s special election, bringing the project to an end and denying a $47.9 million grant from Massachusetts School Building Authority to offset the cost.The...

Regarding your insulting editorial cartoon on Monday, May 13, how would your readers respond if that trashcan had Democratic Party candidate on it instead of third party? Interesting how those claiming to value democracy have no clue what it is. The...